The present invention relates generally to a method of and system for determining connections between parties and, more particularly, to a connection searching method and system in which a user is capable of entering a source party and a target party and searching a host database to obtain lists of people or entities through which the source and target parties are connected. The system also is capable of determining a number of connections that are associated with one party.
It is well known that personal contacts are advantageous when conducting transactions between parties. However, determining the contacts of one party of a transaction the contacts of the other party of the transaction and what contacts those contacts have in common can be very difficult and time consuming. Currently, there is no efficient method or system for determining such contacts between parties of a transaction.
The present invention is directed to a method of and system for determining connections between people which is efficient and effective. The system includes a host database which includes records of parties, including identification information, which is available from non-restricted sources. The identification information is arranged in a series of searchable data fields. A user connects to a website associated with the system and inputs a source party and a target party, for the purpose of finding a number of connections between the parties. The parties may be people or entities, such as companies, organizations, etc. The system searches the database for intermediate party records having at least one data field which includes identification information which is common to the identification information in at least one of the data fields of the source party record. The located party records are compared to the target party record to determine if any of the identification information in the intermediate party record is common to any of the identification information in the target party record. If there is a commonality, a list of the source party, intermediate party and target party is generated, including the records for each party, to show the connection path between the source party and the target party. If there are no commonalities between the intermediate party and the target party, further intermediate parties are located which have commonalities with the first intermediate party. The located party records are then compared to the target party record to determine if any of the identification information in the further intermediate part records are common to any of the identification information in the target party record. If there is a commonality, a list of the source party, intermediate parties and target party is generated, including the records for each party, to show the connection path between the source party and the target party. This process is repeated until no further connections are found or until a preset limit of connections is reached.
According to one aspect of the invention, a method of determining a connection between a source party and a target party includes:
A. constructing a host database, the host database including a plurality of records, each record including a number of data fields, each of the data fields including identification information of a party, the identification information being extracted from non-restricted sources;
B. constructing a client database, the client database including a plurality of records, each record including a number of data fields, each of the data fields including identification information of a party, the identification information being extracted from a client""s private sources;
C. receiving identification information of a source party and a target party;
D. identifying a record in the client database including identification information of the source party;
E. identifying a record in the host database including identification information of the target party;
F. searching the data fields in the records of at least one of the client database and the host database to locate identification information commonalities between the source party record and at least one intermediate party record;
G. searching the data fields in the records of at least one of the client database and the host database to locate identification information commonalities between the at least one intermediate party record and the target party record; and
H. upon locating at least one identification information commonality between the at least one intermediate party record and the target party record, generating a list including the at least one intermediate party record.
Step G may further include searching the data fields in the records of at least one of the client database and the host database to locate identification information commonalities between the at least one intermediate party records and further intermediate party records; and searching the data fields in the records of at least one of the client database and the host database to locate identification information commonalities between the further intermediate party records and the target party record.
The source party and the target party may be one of a person and an entity. The identification information may include personal and affiliation information of the party.
The identification information may include at least one of a person""s name, the person""s dates of employment with a company, the person""s title within the company, the person""s company name, the person""s company address, the person""s company SIC code, and the person""s company ticker symbol. The identification information may include at least one of a company name, the company""s address, the company""s SIC code and the company""s ticker symbol. The records stored on the client database may be a subset of the records stored on the host database.
According to another aspect of the invention, a method of determining a connection between a source party and a target party includes:
A. constructing a host database, the host database including a plurality of records, each record including a number of data fields, each of the data fields including identification information of a party, the identification information being extracted from non-restricted sources;
B. receiving identification information of a source party and a target party;
C. identifying a record in the host database including identification information of the source party;
D. identifying a record in the host database including identification information of the target party;
E. searching the data fields in the records of the host database to locate identification information commonalities between the source party record and at least one intermediate party record;
F. searching the data fields in the records of the host database to locate identification information commonalities between the at least one intermediate party record and the target party record; and
G. upon locating a data field commonality between the at least one intermediate party record and the target party record, generating a list of the at least one intermediate party record.
According to another aspect of the invention, a system for determining a connection between a source party and a target party includes a host system having a computer processor and associated memory. The host system includes a host database including a plurality of records, each record including a number of data fields, each of the data fields including identification information of a party, the identification information being extracted from non-restricted sources. The system also includes a client system having a computer processor and associated memory, the client system including a client database including a plurality of records, each record including a number of data fields, each of the fields including identification information of a party, the identification information being extracted from a client""s private sources. The client system establishes a connection to the host system over the communication network and inputs identification information of a source party and a target party. The host system identifies a record in at least on of the client database and the host database including identification information of the source party and identifying a record in at least one of the client database and the host database including identification information of the target party; and the host system searching the data fields in the records to locate identification information commonalities between the source party record and at least one intermediate party record and searching the data fields in the records to locate identification information commonalities between the at least one intermediate party record and the target party record. Upon locating a identification information commonality between the at least one intermediate party record and the target party record, the host system generating a list of the at least one intermediate party record.
According to yet another aspect of the invention, a system for determining a connection between a source party and a target party includes a host system including a computer processor and associated memory and a user system including a computer processor and associated memory. The host system includes a database having a plurality of records, each record including a number of data fields, each of the data fields including identification information of a party, the identification information being extracted from non-restricted sources. The user system is adapted for establishing a connection to the host system over a communication network and inputting identification information of a source party and a target party to the host system. The host system identifies records in the database including identification information of the source party identification information of the target party and searches the data fields in the records to locate identification information commonalities between the source party record and at least one intermediate party record and searching the data fields in the records to locate identification information commonalities between the at least one intermediate party record and the target party record. Upon locating a identification information commonality between the at least one intermediate party record and the target party record, the host system generating a list of the at least one intermediate party record.
According to yet another aspect of the invention, a method of determining a connection between a source party and a target party includes:
A. receiving identification information of a source party and a target party;
B. identifying a record in the client database including identification information of the source party, the client database including a plurality of records, each record including a number of data fields, each of the data fields including identification information of a party;
C. identifying a record in the host database including identification information of the target party, the host database including a plurality of records, each record including a number of data fields, each of the data fields including identification information of a party;
D. searching the data fields in the records of at least one of the client database and the host database to locate identification information commonalities between the source party record and at least one intermediate party record;
E. searching the data fields in the records of at least one of the client database and the host database to locate identification information commonalities between the at least one intermediate party record and the target party record; and
F. upon locating at least one identification information commonality between the at least one intermediate party record and the target party record, generating a list including the at least one intermediate party record.
According to yet another aspect of the invention, a method of determining a connection between a source party and a target party includes:
A. receiving identification information of a source party and a target party;
B. identifying a record in the host database including identification information of the source party, the host database including a plurality of records, each record including a number of data fields, each of the data fields including identification information of a party, the identification information being extracted from non-restricted sources;
C. identifying a record in the host database including identification information of the target party;
D. searching the data fields in the records of the host database to locate identification information commonalities between the source party record and at least one intermediate party record;
E. searching the data fields in the records of the host database to locate identification information commonalities between the at least one intermediate party record and the target party record; and
F. upon locating a data field commonality between the at least one intermediate party record and the target party record, generating a list of the at least one intermediate party record.
According to yet another aspect of the invention, a system for determining a connection between a source party and a target party includes a host system including a computer processor and associated memory and a user system including a computer processor and associated memory. The host system includes a database having a plurality of records, each record including a number of data fields, each of the data fields including identification information of a party. The user system is adapted for establishing a connection to the host system over a communication network, the user system inputting identification information of a source party and a target party to the host system. The host system identifies records in the database including identification information of the source party identification information of the target party and searches the data fields in the records to locate identification information commonalities between the source party record and at least one intermediate party record and searching the data fields in the records to locate identification information commonalities between the at least one intermediate party record and the target party record. Upon locating a identification information commonality between the at least one intermediate party record and the target party record, the host system generating a list of the at least one intermediate party record.